Student Life: Mundane Tasks Burn Big Calories

By Willa Holmwood - Contributor · January 18th, 2019 at 8:35 a.m.

How many calories are you burning in day-to-day life?

Mundane tasks that plague day-to-day life are monotonous and tiresome. Despite a lack of thrill, the surprising amount of subconscious energy expenditure associated with these tasks burns a hefty number of calories. Checkout the list below to learn about your accidental healthy life choices.

For a person weighing approximately 150 lbs:

H lot at UBC Okanagan

Walking up the hill from H lot: 180 calories / 30 minutes

Trekking up the mountainous journey from the back of H lot to 3rd floor Arts is a rite of passage for many UBCO students. Compared to the flat walk from F lot, H lot provides incline enthusiasts with an increase of 60% in calories burned compared to flat ground. No wonder students are always out of breath!

Photo by Andrea Marie Tan

Lugging textbooks around: 130 calories / 30 minutes

From heavy textbooks, to lab equipment, to projects, students lug around a ridiculous amount of weight throughout the day. Backpacking around campus with these overpriced textbooks can add up to some serious calorie burning.

Grocery shopping: 50 calories / 30 minutes

Pushing a shopping cart, carrying a 6-pack of beer, constantly bending over and reaching up makes grocery shopping a free gym workout. With an estimated 3 million people shopping at Costco each day, 150 million calories are burned across the world thanks to the lure of free samples and massive bulk buying.

Photo by Yunmeng Cui

Scraping ice off the windshield: 55 calories / 15 minutes

When Jack Frost releases his icy reign on a car’s window, the muscles in the arms and back use a ton of energy. Because of the cold weather, the body has to work even harder to maintain core temperature. This can lead to an additional 50% increase in burned calories.

Studying: 50 calories / 60 minutes

Perhaps knowing that you can burn calories simply by sitting at a desk and studying will help to increase motivation throughout the semester. Arguably, these burned calories would transfer to sitting in class, on the bus, at the bar, and even just sitting up to watch Netflix.

Texting: 40 calories / 60 minutes

All those Tinder date conversations, dms on Instagram and meme group chats are seriously contributing to your physical well-being. If you used your phone non-stop for 24 hours, you could burn nearly 1000 calories. Tell that to those professors who say no cellphones!

Although mundane tasks are not overly exciting, finding the benefits from life’s simplicities reveals astounding calorie-burning facts. Who knows what other subconscious benefits they may hold!